While many consider it rewarding, some volunteers who work with terminally ill patients find the experience sad, difficult and challenging.
Because it can be painful to repeatedly watch those you care for die, a majority of hospice volunteers usually don’t last much longer than five years, said Tracy Baier, volunteer coordinator for Our Hospice of South Central Indiana.
That’s one of many things that makes a Columbus man’s 25 years of volunteer service in hospice care so exceptional, Baier said.
Don Meyer, 76, was named Hospice Volunteer of the Year during the Columbus Regional Health All Workforce event. The Jolinda Court resident began serving as a volunteer for the organization on March 19, 1993.
“Don is very atypical for the amount of work and commitment he provides,” Baier said.
After retiring from Cummins, Meyer began volunteering through his church to visit people in nursing homes, Meyer said. His wife, Suzette, was a likely influence since she worked at the time as nurse manager at Columbus Convalescent Center.
But Meyer said he felt the need to become a Hospice patient volunteer, which means providing support services for the patient and family.
By 1998, Meyer was volunteering to help up to six patients at a time while he was still working for Banister Construction Co.
During his recognition for five years of service, former Hospice volunteer coordinator Marcia Teltoe described Meyer as a man who is “always willing to do anything that will help someone in need.”
“Don’s love and caring for people is unending,” Teltoe said at the time. “He has a big heart and a great personality to go with it.”
Both then and now, Meyer insists he gets more from the patients than what they get from him.
As volunteer coordinator, Baier admits she hasn’t heard too many volunteers say they are the greater beneficiary in a relationship with a hospice patient.
“But it’s beautiful what Don is able to give,” Baier said. “He loves every single patient, and treats them like family.”
Meyer relies on his spiritual beliefs on life and death that developed while he was growing up near Batesville, which continue today as a member of the Community Church of Columbus.
“There’s no future in pain and suffering,” Meyer said. “I believe there is abundance after this life.”
Our Hospice of South Central Indiana is a not-for-profit, community-based hospice providing care to individuals with a life-limiting condition and their families since 1980. The organization cares for patients and families in 16 counties from offices in Columbus, North Vernon and Greensburg.
